Bogeyman Boogie
by Eccentric Samurai
Summary: The Bebop crew are being stalked by a mysterious adversary.  But how are they supposed to defeat an enemy who only comes out at night and isn't even human?


Okay folks, here's my first story. Yeah it's probably not wise to be writing a mature rated story for my first go round, but I feel lucky. Anyway, get ready and let me know what you think!  
-Eccentric Samurai

Bogeyman Boogie

The beast lives out of the raging storm in the dead of night  
The ravenous, blood-sick creatures searches for it's sacrifice  
Through the hideous darkness, it lurches, driven by death itself  
Only the satisfaction of slaughter will cause it to return to  
The darkness from which it came  
-Insane Clown Posse

Hush little baby, don't say a word  
And never mind that noise you heard  
It's just the beast under your bed  
In your closet, in your head  
-Metallica

(1)

The sound of a door creaking open caused Ed to raise her head from her pillow slowly and groggily. Who would be up at this time of night?

"Spike person?" Ed whispered, rubbing her left eye to clear her vision. "Is that you Spike person?"

There was no reply.

With a yawn, Ed laid her head back down on her pillow and closed her eyes. Spike person wouldn't be up now. It was late at night.

And what was that in the corner of the room?

Ed squinted in an attempt to see what was in the corner, but it was gone. She was puzzled. Was she dreaming or just too tired to tell the difference? There was no sense in worrying about it. She lay back down and closed her eyes.

There were footsteps out in the hallway.

Ed rose from her bed and walked to the door of her room. She was growing tired of all these distractions; even somebody as energetic and peppy as her needed sleep. It was probably just Ein anyway, though what he would want this late at night she could only imagine.

But when she opened the door, there was nobody in the hallway.

Ed was nervous, but she dismissed it off to hearing things. When you were tired and the house-or in this case, the ship-you lived in was silent, all noise seemed amplified.

Ed walked back to her bed and lay back down. Perhaps she could get some sleep now.

As she turned on her back, she suddenly became aware of a very soft scratching sound. The sound did not seem to be coming from any one direction. It seemed to reverberate throughout the room.

Feeling nervous, Ed looked around her room, hoping to find something like a rat. Then again, how could a rat get into the Bebop? They were in outer space for goodness sake!

The scratching became louder and louder. Ed's eyes slowly scanned the room, looking for any sign of life. There was nothing.

The scratching kept on increasing in decibel level. Surely somebody would hear it and come to see what it was. And just what _could_ be making such a noise?

Suddenly the scratching stopped. Everything was quiet again. Ed breathed a sigh of relief and closed her eyes again.

A sudden, brief burst of high pitched laughter suddenly filled the room.

Ed sat bolt upright in bed, her eyes flying open in terror. Her eyes darted here and there, looking for something to help her rationalize whatever was going on, but there was nothing to help her.

The laughter came again, continuing for maybe one or two seconds, then became a soft moan as it faded into nothing. Now there was no sound at all.

Ed whimpered softly. Sweat ran down her face, dripping onto the collar of her lace nightgown. She suddenly wanted to be out of the room and with Jet, or even Spike. Something was wrong here.

And there was something in the corner of the room again.

Eyes.

Terrible, yellow eyes.

Whimpering, Ed curled up and dragged the sheets and blanket over her head. She began to shiver, still feeling those terrible eyes drilling into her. Dear God, she was so _frightened_.

There was a thump. And another. And another.

And they were getting closer.

Ed began to cry softly under the covers. She shivered violently. She could hear soft, slobbering breath. She desperately wished somebody would come down the hall and stop whatever was coming.

The covers were pulled back.

There was nothing.

Ed sat up slowly in her bed. She started giggling. There had never been anything. There was no need to worry. She had just been having a nightmare, or _something_. Even Ed knew better then to believe in monsters.

Hands of incredible strength shot out of the darkness and clamped down on her shoulders.

Ed tried to scream, but could not bring herself too. All that came out was a hoarse "Hhhhhuuhhh." as her breath rushed out of her. Her groin felt numb and cold. She didn't know if her bladder had let go or not. Something was coming out of the darkness.

And those hands brought her forward to gaze into that hideous face.

(2)

"Hey Spike, have you seen Ed?" Jet asked as he cooked the breakfast bell peppers.

"Nope, can't say I have." Spike replied, taking a deep drag on his cigarette.

"Well it's not like her to miss breakfast. She's normally up by now."

"Well don't ask me. You're the father figure."

"Don't smart mouth me Spike!" Jet snapped.

Spike exhaled smoke and sighed. "See what I mean Jet?"

Across the table, Faye chuckled. "Ah, I love the sound of children playing." she laughed.

"Whatever." Jet sighed. "I just wanted to know where Ed was."

Faye leaned back in her seat. "Oh who knows? You never can tell with her."

"Maybe you're right. Maybe I am worrying a little too much." Jet returned to the stove and the bell peppers.

"Yeah, you're supposed to be the mature one." Faye smirked.

Jet started to say something when a series of loud, alarmed barks emanated from down the hall. With another sigh, Jet walked down the hall to see what Ein was barking about. Spike continued smoking and Faye was just sitting in her seat, running a finger through her hair.

Jet suddenly shouted "Oh my God!" from down the hall.

Spike and Faye got out of their seats and began to walk down the hall, curious as to what could make Jet sound so frightened. It took quite a bit to faze any of them. Maybe Ed had fallen out of bed again or something. There was no real sense worrying about it.

The sight before them made Spike drop his cigarette from his mouth.

There was Ed, sitting on the bed, her face pale as a corpse. Her eyes were glassy and staring. One arm dangled limply to the side. The other was raised up to her face, the thumb stuck securely in her mouth. Her hair was tangled and sweaty.

Ein sat near Ed, whining. He kept on nuzzling her with his nose, but she did not respond. Jet was gripping Ed by her shoulders and was gently shaking her.

"Ed come on, snap out of it!" Jet half shouted. "Snap out of it Ed!"

Faye took a step forward. "Um, Jet? What happened to her?"

"I don't know! When I came here, Ein was here and she was just like this."

"So what could have gotten her like this?"

"Like I said, I don't know! She's in shock or something."

Suddenly in Jet's arms Ed began to stir. Her eyes began to lose the glassy, vacant look they once had. Her thumb came out of her mouth with an audible pop. She began to tremble violently.

"Ed?" Jet asked, looking the girl in the face. "Ed, are you okay? What happened to you?"

Ed suddenly hurled herself into Jet's arms, sobbing violently. At first the sobs were so hard that Jet couldn't even make out what she was saying. Unable to think of anything else, Jet hugged Ed and began to rock her back and forth, letting her sob into his chest.

Ed suddenly shouted, "Ed saw him! Ed saw him!"

Jet blinked. "Saw who Ed?"

Ed gave another gasping sob and whispered two barely audible words.

"The bogeyman."

To be continued…

So that's my first story. I don't know when I'll update it. I hope to see you again soon.  
-Eccentric Samurai


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